Mugabe vows to 'cripple' new satellite TV station

Zimbabwe's first independent television station was due to go on air on Friday
in a challenge to the 30-year state broadcasting monopoly controlled by
President Robert Mugabe.

Broadcasting has been a monopoly controlled by President Robert Mugabe for thirty yearsPhoto: AFP

By Peta Thornycroft and Aislinn Laing in Johannesburg

6:17PM BST 19 Jul 2013

The station, 1st TV, will be provided by a satellite feed from outside Zimbabwe using a free network received by an estimated 700,000 homes across the nation.

The state Herald newspaper reported that George Charamba, Mugabe’s spokesman, said South Africa will be asked to stop broadcasts believed to be beamed from there because they “hurt Zimbabwean interests” ahead of elections on July 31.

“We are alive to this connection and we will be taking decisions mindful of the need to cripple this pirate television broadcast station,” he said.

The station says it is not using any South African systems to get its programmes, including news and current affairs, to Zimbabwe. It is aiming for three million viewers, compared to the 350,000 who watch Mr Mugabe’s state television at peak times.

The Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation has one TV channel and four radio stations and is accused by independent monitors of falling foul of its licence, which demands it provides fair news.

1st TV’s executive producer, Andrew Chadwick who worked briefly as a speechwriter for Mr Mugabe’s election rival, Morgan Tsvangirai, said: “1st TV took a decision not to involve any corporation connected to the South Africa government, to avoid any complications because we are aware of South Africa’s critical role as facilitator in resolving the political crisis in Zimbabwe.

“Therefore we are not up linking out of South Africa. Our signal goes to Europe and bounces back to Zimbabwe via a commercial satellite.”

He has recruited two well-known Zimbabwe media personalities to the news team, Violet Gonda, from SW RadioAfrica, which broadcasts radio news from London to Zimbabwe, and Themba Hove, a former top broadcaster from the state television station who left the corporation several years ago.

Many Zimbabweans were bereft last month when the South African Broadcasting Corporation obeyed a court order to encrypt signals from its three TV stations.

Until then these stations were available free-to-air to Zimbabweans who had a satellite dish and a cheap Chinese Wiiztech decoder.

The multi party political agreement which brought Mr Tsvangirai into government in 2009, says that there should be no external radio stations beaming in to Zimbabwe.